The individual components of a wind energy installation are controlled by an installation control system. The installation control system is in this case generally in the form of a computer unit which can be configured before commissioning and during operation of a wind energy installation. It can therefore always be matched to the latest knowledge relating to optimum operation of a wind energy installation, throughout the entire life of the wind energy installation. Furthermore, the installation control system provides information relating to the operation of the wind energy installation.
In order to prevent any given third party from being able to configure the installation control system of a wind energy installation, access to the installation control system is generally protected by a combination of a user name and password. For this purpose, in the prior art, password lists in the form of a user database are stored in the installation control system, containing the user names and passwords which are authorized for access.
Since an individual data record must be stored in the installation control system for each access-authorized user, according to the prior art, the user database must be updated whenever the access authorization of an individual user changes. However, this is not always possible in a prompt manner, particularly in the case of those wind energy installations which are not connected to a remote data transmission network. A user to be newly added has to wait until the installation control system user database for a wind energy installation has been updated before he is granted access to the installation control system of this wind energy installation. An access authorization which might be required at short notice is impossible with this prior art.
It is also known in the prior art for general passwords to be used for wind energy installations. In this case, all the users in a user group, that is to say a group with specific access authorizations, are assigned a common (general) user name and a common (general) password for all the wind energy installations from one manufacturer. This has the disadvantage that, if the access data becomes known outside the user group, this allows unimpeded access to the installation control system by third parties. Therefore, for security reasons, when an employee who knows the access data leaves, the general user names and general passwords must be changed, and all the users with access authorization must be notified promptly. This involves an enormous amount of administration effort, and involves considerable security risks.